Report Shows Modest Rise in Requests for Asylum

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

August 17, 2013

PHOENIX — Requests for asylum in the United States along the border with Mexico have more than doubled over the last three years as immigrants seeking legal entry into the country claim a fear of persecution back home, according to a federal government report.

The so-called credible fear claims reached 14,610 by the end of June, with three months left in the fiscal year, the Department of Homeland Security reported. For the entire 2011 fiscal year, there were 6,824 such claims. The department’s report notes, however, that those numbers are a tiny portion of the millions of travelers who legally enter the country each year.

The numbers represent “defensive” applications by foreigners arriving at American ports of entry seeking asylum. They do not include “affirmative” asylum requests filed in the same period by immigrants who are already in the country without permanent legal status. The department said those figures were not available.

The data was released on Friday, in part, to dispute claims first reported by Fox News that large numbers of Mexican citizens had been showing up at San Diego ports of entry recently to seek asylum, citing the drug violence in their country. Homeland Security Department officials said the news reports had been overstated and called the increase in asylum requests at those ports “modest.”

Between Aug. 1 and Aug. 15, the agency said, an average of 30 people per day have arrived at San Diego ports seeking asylum, out of about 170,000 travelers who cross the border there legally each day.

Critics of current immigration overhaul efforts in Washington have claimed that would-be immigrants are using the credible fear claim and seeking asylum as a loophole to gain legal entry into the United States, citing fear of drug cartel violence in Mexico. Immigration experts say the concerns are overstated.

The issue gained new attention last month after a group of nine immigration rights activists presented themselves at the Arizona border in Mexico seeking asylum. After spending several weeks in detention, they have been released into the United States pending hearings before an immigration judge who will make a final decision on their requests.

Homeland Security Department officials are quick to point out that such requests from Mexican citizens are rarely granted, noting that, on average, 91 percent are denied.

While it is unclear what will happen in the nine activists’ cases, some say their release into the United States, even if only temporarily, sets a dangerous precedent and could overwhelm ports of entry across the border. All of this is occurring while the White House is pressuring a reluctant Republican-led House to pass a major immigration bill.

“Frankly, I don’t think the House should pass any bill until the administration shows its willingness to confront and fix this problem,” said Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican and vocal opponent of the immigration bill pending in Congress. “This is a direct threat to the orderly administration of our immigration law,” Mr. Sessions added, predicting that even the perception of easy entry into the United States through asylum applications could create havoc on the border by prompting thousands more to try the same tactic.

Homeland Security Department officials say there has been no marked increase in the numbers of such asylum requests from Mexican citizens, but the agency could not provide more detailed figures.

“Border activity levels are cyclical in nature,” said Peter Boogaard, a spokesman for the department. “Claims of credible fear along the Southwest border vary month to month and year to year.”

He added that “credible fear determinations are dictated by longstanding statute, not an issuance of discretion.”